US, Canada hail Taiwan's 'freedom pineapples' after Chinese ban

The de facto US and Canadian embassies in Taiwan have praised the quality of pineapples grown on the island, releasing photographs of their top diplomats in Taipei with the fruit after an import ban by China. Key points: China has placed a trade ban on Taiwanese pineapples claiming they contain "harmful creatures" The ban is the latest recent rise in tensions between the two nations Top US and Canadian diplomats in Taiwan have thrown their support behind Taiwan's "freedom pineapples" China last week stopped the import of Taiwanese pineapples, citing "harmful creatures" it said could come with the fruit. Referencing a tweet by Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu for people around the world to "rally behind the #FreedomPineapple", the Canadian Trade Office, on Taipei's Facebook page, used the same hashtag on a picture of its chief, Jordan Reeves, posing with colleagues around a pineapple pizza. Taiwan's air force scrambled for a second straight day recently after a dozen Chinese fighter aircraft and bombers carried out drills close to Taiwan-controlled islands in the disputed South China Sea. Asked at a news briefing last month about the air forces' recent activities, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Taiwan was an inseparable part of China.